Today’s guest post is by Brandon Rappuhn, a Logos marketing copywriter.

What do we really know about St. Joseph?

According to tradition, St. Joseph, the foster father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was born and raised in Bethlehem. He learned the trade of carpentry from his father, just as he would pass that trade on to his foster son, Jesus. Joseph was an honorable and righteous man, who followed the law of Moses for the purpose of serving God and his fellow man (Matthew 1:19). This man of humble stature has had a deep and profound influence on the Catholic Church for the past 2,000 years.

Admittedly, much of what we know of Joseph is speculation, educated guesses, and hearsay. But none of our veneration is without merit. The plain and simple fact that God chose Joseph and Mary to raise, teach, and train the child Jesus attests far more to their character than even the Church assumes. The Church remembers that Joseph is a simple, humble man and that he protected Mary and Jesus when they were vulnerable (Matthew 2:14), but that probably wasn’t the only time Joseph kept Mary and Jesus from harm. He worked with his hands to provide a bed, food, and clothing for the young Jesus—the small, vulnerable child who was (and is) the God of the entire universe.

It is commonly held that Joseph gently passed away of natural causes before Jesus began his public ministry. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that St. Epiphanius says Joseph died at 90 years of age, and Venerable Bede attests he was buried in the Valley of Josaphat. In any case, Joseph’s mission on earth was completed as Jesus prepared to enter into public ministry, leaving Jesus and Mary to begin a radical movement and new covenant that would change the world.

St. Joseph in the world today

We venerate St. Joseph today as the patron of fathers, workers, and the celibate. Countless parishes, schools, hospitals, and US counties have been named after him. Pope Pius IX devoted himself to St. Joseph and, in 1847, established that his feast day should be honored by the entire Catholic Church. Later, in 1871, the same pope declared that the entire Church should be under his patronage, thus establishing him today as the Church’s protector. Just as God appointed him to protect Jesus and Mary, so does he continue to pray for the protection of the Church Jesus so loves.

This is the question on every Catholic’s mind: when will I see white smoke? When will we have a new pope?

I can’t tell you exactly—no one knows precisely when the ballots will be burned—but here are some good times to check the chimney:

 

Time in Rome –


The cardinals will cast two votes in the morning—which they will burn at noon—and two in the evening—which they will burn at 7:00 PM (Rome time). This means we will see smoke at noon and 7:00 PM.
If the cardinals do not vote twice in the morning—if their first vote is conclusive—we will see white smoke around 10:30 AM. Similarly, for the evening ballots, we could see white smoke closer to 5:30 PM.

Again, these are only estimates—it never hurts to check more often.

Keep up with the action using the Conclave app.

Today’s guest post is by Aric Nesheim, marketing specialist in the Catholic division.

As the papal conclave fast approaches, many are wondering how it actually works. The conclave’s fascinating history shows how malleable the papal-election process can be. Today, the rules and regulations for the papal conclave have been changed and altered by various apostolic constitutions and motu proprios. Here are 10 need-to-know points concerning the upcoming conclave:

1) When the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel, after the master of the Papel Liturgical Celebrations says “Extra omnes!” (outside, all of you!), no one is allowed to stay save the cardinals themselves. The word “conclave” is actually derived from the Latin cum (“with”) and clavis (“key”), indicating that the cardinals are locked in together until a new pope can be elected.

2) Of the 117 cardinals eligible to vote, Pope Benedict XVI named 67 and Pope John Paul II named 50.

3) Two cardinal electors are not attending: Julius Riyadi Cardinal Darmaatmadja, SJ, archbishop emeritus of Jakarta, Indonesia, and Keith Michael Patrick Cardinal O’Brien, archbishop emeritus of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, Scotland. This means that of the 117 cardinals able to vote, only 115 will be participating in the conclave.

4) Of the living cardinals, only six were council fathers at the Second Vatican Council (Cardinals Angelini, Arinze, Canestri, Delly, Fernandes de Araújo, and Lourdusamy). However, all are over 80 and thus cannot participate in the conclave.

5) The apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis (“The Lord’s Whole Flock”), issued by Pope John Paul II, stipulates that the conclave must begin 15 to 20 days after the vacancy. However, on February 25, Pope Benedict XVI issued the motu proprio Normas Nonnullas, which states that if the Cardinal Electors have all arrived, the conclave may begin early. As of today, the Vatican is still waiting for five cardinals to begin the conclave process.

6) In another motu proprio, Benedict XVI also changed the way that John Paul II had set up the election of the next pope. The voting process is simple: if the cardinals become deadlocked and cannot get a clear election with a 2/3 majority, they must take a day for prayer and dialogue and then vote for the top two cardinals of the last balloting (though these two may not vote—they have what’s called a vox passiva). Because the number of cardinals is odd, there needs to be a consensus of at least 77 before a pope can be elected.

7) When everyone is out except for the cardinals, the voting begins! The process is carried out in three phases: First, in what’s called the pre-scrutiny, the ballot papers will be distributed, and three groups of three cardinals will be selected to complete various tasks. The first group of cardinals will be selected to be “Scrutineers”—basically those who tally up the ballots. The second group, called “Infirmarii,” will be in charge of placing the ballots of any cardinals who are sick or weak (and thus cannot leave their room) into the voting urn. The third group will consist of “Revisers”—those who check the work of the Scrutineers.

8) Next, the scrutiny portion of the election will begin. Each cardinal will write down whom they wish to be the next pope and proceed to take their ballot to the altar where the three Scrutineers stand. Before a ballot can be cast, each cardinal must recite an oath in Latin that reads in English, “I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected.”

9) Finally, after all the ballots have been opened up, the “post-scrutiny” portion of the conclave will begin. The Scrutineers add up the votes and the Revisers double-check them. If no clear election is made, the ballots must be burned and recast, followed by the signaling of dark smoke. If a new pope has been elected, white smoke will rise from the Sistine Chapel followed by the ringing of bells.

10) Whereas the ballots have, in the last century, been placed into a chalice and pyx, this time around there are three “urns” in which they are placed. The first urn is for normal voting, the second will be used only if there are cardinals who cannot leave their rooms due to illness, and the third will be used to gather the ballots after the scrutiny—right before they are burned to produce either the white or the black smoke above the Sistine Chapel.

Guido di Pietro was born circa 1395 and became a Dominican friar in 1417, taking the name Fra Giovanni da Fiesole. He earned the nicknames il Beato Angelico, “Blessed Angelic One,” and his common English name: Fra Angelico, which means “Angelic Brother.”

Even before he became a friar, Fra Angelico was a talented painter; after he entered the religious order, he traveled to and from Rome painting altarpieces and frescoes in papal chapels and his own respective friaries.

His range of audiences can be detected in the different colors used. The frescoes in the convent of Fiesole encourage meditation in simple colors, while the papal paintings tend toward brilliance and gold. Throughout his works, however, one finds a theme of humility and piety. His paintings consistently depict sincerity and gentleness.

Giorgio Vasari, famous for his biographies of Renaissance artists, declares, “In their bearing and expression, the saints painted by Fra Angelico come nearer to the truth than the figures done by any other artist.”

He died in Rome in 1455. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 3, 1982, and declared patron of Catholic artists in 1984.

William Michael Rossetti, a major contributor to the 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, wrote of Fra Angelico,

From various accounts of Fra Angelico’s life, it is possible to gain some sense of why he was deserving of canonization. He led the devout and ascetic life of a Dominican friar, and never rose above that rank; he followed the dictates of the order in caring for the poor; he was always good-humored. All of his many paintings were of divine subjects, and it seems that he never altered or retouched them, perhaps from a religious conviction that, because his paintings were divinely inspired, they should retain their original form. He was wont to say that he who illustrates the acts of Christ should be with Christ. It is averred that he never handled a brush without fervent prayer and he wept when he painted a Crucifixion.

Today’s guest post is by Brandon Rappuhn, a Logos marketing copywriter.

For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. (Ecclesiastes 3:19–20)

It is prudent to remember that we are only made of flesh and blood. The flesh and blood of Adam was formed out of the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7), and when we die, our bodies go back into the ground and become dust again. How often do we consider our own inevitable death? I confess that I keep myself too busy in my daily life to slow down and really consider life, death, heaven, and hell.[i] In a very clever and symbolic way, the Church has developed Ash Wednesday and Lent to reorient ourselves toward our eternal goal.

Repentance is the key to the proper orientation of the heart and the first step on the long road to heaven. Turning away from the ways of sin and toward Jesus and the Cross is the aim of the season—and so from repentance (the attitude of the heart) we get penance (the physical practice of repentance). Lent is a season of penance, which we enter through the doors of Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday began as a public penance some 14 centuries ago. Originally, the penitent would appear barefoot and humbly dressed at the doors to the church. The penitent would then be clad in sackcloth and brought before the bishop, who would make their penances known publicly and would put ashes upon his head. As the centuries went by, the practice gradually became more universal to all Catholics.

Today, we use the ashes from the burned remains of the palm branches from Palm Sunday. Jesus was glorified by the use of palm branches in his triumphant entry into Jerusalem in the days leading up to his crucifixion. The ashes of the palms show us that we cannot gain victory over sin and death except by repentance and humility. Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris . . .

May we all remember on this somber day our origins and our destination. Today we begin Lent—40 days that represent a tenth (or a tithe) of our calendar year, which we offer up in repentance for our sins and penance that we may never sin again. This season, I encourage you to daily consider to what end sin leads, and to what end faith brings you—and to pray with me that Christ brings us there.

Lent is coming. If you haven’t read Andrew’s stellar Mardi Gras post, check it out, and notice (at the bottom) that we are having a Mardi Gras sale: 15% off resources that will help you dive into the Gospels. (Coupon expires at midnight, PST)

We will be very focused on training and devotionals this Lent. Our posts will revolve around how to use the software and grow in faith as we prepare for Easter.

Every Friday we will share a “Lenten Feature” post (index below), focused on how you can use your base package or the Mardi Gras sale items more effectively. We will also feature “mini-Easter” sales every Sunday, as a chance to focus on Christ and the saints in a new light each week.

I strongly encourage you to download our free app for your Android or iOS device so that you can carry Christ with you this Lent. Challenge yourself to use the mobile app in lieu of Facebook on your phone, to reflect on the day’s Gospel as you ride the bus, or to discuss the Catechism as a daily devotion and continued Year of Faith goal.

Share the app with your friends, get a Faithlife reading plan going, or just encourage each other to uphold your Lenten promises. Post this to your Facebook wall or share it to your Twitter followers (before you give either of those up for Lent).

Do you already have the app? Be sure to rate it and tell your friends. Let’s spend this Lent building community among Catholics around the world with free Faithlife accounts and free mobile apps. Who are you going to share this with?

Lenten Posts:

Ashes to Ashes
Lenten feature: customize your daily reflection
Lenten feature from Steve Ray

As many of you are likely already aware, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he will resign on February 28, 2013, citing deteriorating strength. Below is the full statement from Pope Benedict XVI.

I implore you to pray for Pope Benedict XVI and our future pope in this trying time, and to support each other as the media’s speculation turns, as always, to sensationalism. Study the Faith, stand up for the truth, and let us all join in prayer for the future of the Catholic Church.

Dear brothers,

I have convoked you to this consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of St. Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which, in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of St. Peter, entrusted to me by the cardinals on April 19, 2005, in such a way, that as from Feb. 28, 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of St. Peter, will be vacant and a conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry, and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the holy Church to the care of our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the cardinal fathers with her maternal solicitude in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

From the Vatican, February 10, 2013

BENEDICTUS PP XVI